Coup d'etat
by healylite
Summary: Takes place after the finale. Max-centric.
1. Chapter 1

I don't own Wizards of Waverly Place! I must admit I'm still frustrated with the finale.. I came up with this on a whim, I vaguely know where it's going, but I hope it's okay! Sorry there's not really a summary, I want it to be a surprise!

Coup d'état

Chapter One:

"_So Alex and Justin get to be wizards, and I get the sub-station?... That's AWESOME!" _

Max's words echoed in his head. He almost slipped up back there. He was in a state of shock on that stage; he was the only one without powers, of course that sounded lame. But he had to pretend it was a sweet deal, he was proud of his sister and brother, and he knew that if they didn't win, Alex wouldn't get to be with Mason, and Justin wouldn't be with Juliet. Max was not a sore loser, and wasn't about to make a scene. That would have ruined the celebratory mood. He had since bought Alex and Justin congratulatory presents for being a wizard, and made sure his family didn't realize that he actually wasn't happy with the result. Well… who would be?

At first it was a lot of "I should have studied more" and "I should have practiced my magic." And then he faced flashbacking to the competition, and the questions were suspiciously about situations Alex created by messing up with her magic or random trivia questions that only Justin would know. The one question Max answered, Justin challenged it. It felt like the odds were against him from the start.

But then, all of those things just sounded like excuses. He lost, and that was all there was to it. It gave him a really empty feeling, but it was better to put on a smile and act happy.

"Max, what are you just sitting around for? Can you wash the dishes?" his mother asked, passing by. Alex was coming down the stairs as she said it. Max barely had time to glance at the sink when Alex waved her wand.

"All done Mom! You're welcome, Max."

"Alex! You know I don't like magic being used around the house!" complained Theresa.

Alex shrugged. "Why not? It's way faster than doing it by hand."

Theresa just sighed in response. "Alright then, Max can you fold the laundry?"

Alex waved her wand again and the clothes flew up from the hamper and folded themselves before landing softly. "And that's all there is to it!" she said cheerfully. "I have a date so I gotta run, see ya."

"Thanks Alex," mumbled Max.

"No problem Max!"

She closed the door behind her. Max quietly regarded the hamper. He wasn't able to do that anymore. He wished that Alex hadn't done that. He never even asked her to.

"Max, honey, go do your homework. You have school tomorrow. Just because everyone was excited about the family wizard competition doesn't mean you don't still have school!"

Max returned to his room and opened his notebook, about to start his math homework. Justin popped in. "Hey Max, do you know where Alex went?"

"Yeah, she's got some kind of date with that werewolf guy," answered Max. "You know, the one who ate Dean that one time."

"Yeah Max, I know who Mason is," answered Justin huffily. "You're doing homework? I don't usually condone this, but now that I'm a full wizard there's a trick I learned that finishes your homework in a snap. You can thank me later." Justin waved his wand and said a couple of words, and all the answers appeared on the homework paper.

"Yeah, I'll do that," said Max, almost bitterly. "Thanks bro."

"You got it Max!" Justin grinned at him, and then flashed out. Max closed his notebook, with a little bit more force than he intended. He stared at the spot Justin was at moments ago, and then walked past it, heading to the lair.


	2. Chapter 2

And here's Chapter 2. I guess you can say that the real story starts in chapter 3! Please tell me what you think so far after this chapter, thanks!

Chapter Two:

The lair was full of magical memories. Some of the items in there were things that Max himself had collected, while others just reminded the Russos of mishaps, like the smartypants and the ugly Bermuda shorts.

"Oh, Max.. It's you." His father had been lounging on the armchair in the lair. He studied Max. "Are you really okay?"

"Yeah dad, of course. Why wouldn't I be?" responded Max with a laugh. Jerry shook his head.

"You don't have to lie to me if you aren't. I used to have magic once, too. You know, your mother was always annoyed about my magical stuff, but I kept them around because they were the closest things I had to magic. Until I had you kids of course. That's why you're here, isn't it?"

"No, I just left something in here," lied Max. "Oh, there it is. My… empty pizza box. I was looking for that everywhere!" Max grabbed the pizza box from the bookshelf. It was actually his, he left it there last night after he said he said he was hungry and Alex decided to be extremely helpful and flashed him a pizza.

"Max, come here." Jerry moved his armchair back, revealing a discolored floorboard underneath. He lifted it, revealing a wooden box.

"I want you to have this. My dad gave this to me after I gave my powers to Uncle Kelvo. I've never told anyone else about it."

"What is it?" asked Max curiously. Jerry opened the lid to reveal a crystal ball.

"My dad said that this is no ordinary crystal ball. Of course, it looks like one to me! He called it Somnium. I never did figure it out. He said that it's an ancient magic relic from when magic first came into existence. There's probably some kind of puzzle to it. When I look into it, it just looks cloudy though. Anyway, I want you to have it, and I'm going to tell you the same words he told me the day he gave it. I'm really proud of you, Max."

"Dad…"

Jerry patted his son on the back. "I know it's hard, seeing your brother and sister with magic, but I'm proud of you for not letting that get between you. If it was up to me, I'd want all of you to have it." He placed the box containing the crystal ball into Max's hand.

"Thanks dad. That means a lot," said Max, meaning it. It wasn't often he heard that someone was proud of him.

"What do you say we grab some pudding and call it a night?" Jerry replaced the floorboard and the armchair and straightened.

"Sounds good, race you to the fridge!"

"Max, be careful with the crystal!" shouted Jerry, as he ran to catch up to his son.


	3. Chapter 3

Yayy, thanks kosfd for the first review! Things seem bad for him now but they'll get better.. hope you stick with the story!

Chapter Three:

Max lay in bed before falling asleep, turning over the Somnium in his hands. He wasn't sure what his dad meant, it didn't look cloudy at all; it was crystal clear. He could see right through it. Actually, now that he thought about it, that was a little weird. Normally he would probably just see his reflection right?

He lifted it up and squinted through it at a poster he had put up a little while ago of a lizard climbing up a tree. Normally, the lizard is looking up, but now the lizard was looking directly at him. He lowered the crystal ball. The lizard was looking up at the tree again. Then he looked at it through the crystal ball once more. Looking at him.

Maybe he just needed some sleep… Max tucked the Somnius under his pillow and drifted off.

The familiar surroundings of his room faded, and suddenly Max found himself surrounded by mist. A huge winding mountain stood directly in front of him. There was a sign in front of it with faded words that he couldn't make out.

Well when in doubt and there's a mountain in front of you, you gotta climb it, as Max always says! After all, he wouldn't get anywhere by just standing there. He walked up a little bit and saw a small house. It looked like it was entirely made of crystal, kind of like that same crystal that his dad gave him. The white dirt of the mountain path reflected on the crystal on all sides. There appeared to be a slightly raised part of crystal that looked just about the size of a door, only Max didn't see a doorknob or anything. Just as he was about to kick it, it slid up to reveal…

A girl. She looked young, probably about Max's age. She had brown wavy hair up to her shoulders, and had large dark eyes. Her face had a natural flush to it, and she wore a black sleeveless gown that reached just above her knees. She was about a head shorter than Max, too.

"Max Russo. I've been waiting for you! I knew you'd come once the Somnius Fragment was in your hands!"

"Yeah! That's me! I'm Max Russo!" agreed Max. "And Fragment? Dad just said it was the Somnius, I don't have any fragments."

"It's a little part of the city. Come on, touch it!" The girl grabbed Max's hand and touched it to the crystal. "This crystal is only found here. It doesn't feel like any other crystal right?"

"I guess, I'm not a crystal expert or anything," admitted Max. "But as far as crystals go, this one feels like it'd be in between a 26 and a 29."

"I'd give it a 38," said the girl conversationally. Max beamed. Normally his family would roll their eyes by now. "By the way, I'm Natalia."

"Talia…" Max thought about his previous girlfriend, surprised to hear the name.

"No, not Talia, Natalia!" insisted the girl. "I'm the princess of the city of Somna."

"Princess Natalia, huh…"

"No, just Talia! Ugh—I mean Natalia!" Max grinned at her confusion. "A-Anyway, we of Somna require your assistance."

"Wow this is some long dream…" muttered Max.

Natalia huffed and stuck her face directly in front of him, so that they were apart by only a few inches. "This is no dream, Max Russo! We need you to go up this mountain!"

"I'm on it! I don't get why, but I'll do it! Climbing mountains in dreams is number twenty-one on my list of things I want to do on Thursday nights!"

"It's not a dream!" insisted Natalia.

"So what's the deal with the mountain?" asked Max.

"The city of Somna has been sealed and lost in time. All of us have lost our powers, and have been living in isolation since the Great War with the wizards eons ago. As the legend goes, only a hero who is fearless and pure of heart, and has answered the call of the fragment can face all the challenges of the mountain and break the seal."

"Natalia… that can't be me. I don't have any powers either, I won't be able to go up that mountain. What you need is… is my brother and sister, Justin and Alex, they could help, they're full wizards."

Natalia shook her head. "No, the fragment called you. Legend has it that one of us had broken through the barrier and dispersed some fragments throughout the outside world. Until now, no one has responded to it."

"Th-that's because dad didn't show the Somnius to Justin or Alex. He only gave it to me because I lost the competition," stuttered Max.

Natalia smiled. "The fragment chooses who it wants to go to. It's enchanted. If it was to go to your siblings, your father would have given it to them. This crystal does not lie, you are the chosen one."

The chosen one... That sounded so important.

"Okay. I'll do it," decided Max. He looked up at the mountain. It didn't look too daunting, and somehow a whole city was depending on him (although so far it just consisted of the princess)!


	4. Chapter 4

Thank you so much **iheart18** and **CallYouByYourName** for the reviews and thanks to anyone who subscribed! Yeah.. I thought Max was pretty gypped throughout the series, but I think he's actually a pretty witty kid!

I'm trying to update a chapter a day so far.. I wonder how long I can keep that up LOL But Ima post this really quick in between responding to emails!

Chapter Four:

"I'm going with you, too!" Natalia smiled at Max, and started to walk up the path. "See that cavern over there? I can't get through it, it's sealed. That's as far as any of us from Somna can go."

"Alright, let's do this!" said Max, pumped. They reached the cavern. There was a slab of rock covering the entrance, and etched onto it were symbols that he did not recognize. "Whatzit say?"

"It reads, this door opens for one who is pure and fearless."

"Open sesame!" shouted Max. Nothing happened.

"Is that an incantation?" asked Natalia, bemused.

"An incawhat?" Max kicked the slab, but that didn't work either.

"Hmm. I was hoping that would work," admitted his companion.

"Me too," agreed Max. He faced the slab, and announced loudly, "I am Max Russo and I command you to open!"

The slab shook, and lifted up, permitting a space for them to enter.

"Wow! You really are the hero!" exclaimed Natalia, impressed.

"Heheh, that was nothing." Max felt a little flushed, and ran in, Natalia tailing behind him. The inside of the cave was full of crystals as well, lining the sides of the wall and protruding from the floor of the cavern.

"Man someone can die on these things!" stated Max, barely touching the edge of a crystal to see how sharp it was.

"Yep!" agreed Natalia cheerfully.

Max made a mental note to watch out for Natalia. There was another slab of rock ahead, which blocked their path. Directly in front of it were four large crystal columns. One was white, one was red, one was blue, and one was green. There was a symmetrical cross drawn on the floor, with squares near the top, bottom, left, and right big enough for the bottom of a column. The slab had more writing etched onto it.

"It says, icy winds blow in the north, the desert heat to the east, vast oceans to the west, bountiful land to the south.

"Icy wind, huh…This kind of looks like a compass down here. If icy wind is to the north, then this white column should go on top right?"

"That seems sound," agreed Natalia.

"Alright!" Max pushed the white column to the spot on top. It was rather heavy, but they heard a "click" when he put it onto the northern square.

"Okay, so desert heat to the east, vast oceans to the west, bountiful land to the south."

"Heat.. heat's like fire, fire's red! And oceans are blue.. land is green!" Max moved the remaining columns to correspond to the engraving. After the last click, the slab opened.

"That was easy!" Max ran through the opening. He felt like he was in a video game; this was shaping up to be pretty fun!


	5. Chapter 5

Almost forgot to update today! Just a heads up, I'm switching from daily updates to weekly ones once a full week is up ahaha. Unless I feel like I can pull it off. Ah I really hope I can pull it off, that would be ... so.. COOL! I've never updated so much for anything before! LOL Anyway, this story's kinda writing itself, I'm kinda wondering where it's going too haha I usually write more humorous stories so this is really new for me.. I'm gonna have to pump it up with some humor somehow laters.. but.. hope you like it!

To **iheart18**: LOL darn I wish it worked for your friend ahhaha. My little brother came up with a trick that actually seems to work, hitting the lid against a counter or a wall or something. I'm afraid I'd cause a dent if I did that though, but the lid does come off pretty easily if you do that LOL

**Chapter Five:**

A plaque stood before them. Natalia moved in front of Max to read it.

"Master the elements, ice, fire, water, wind, light, dark, and earth. Only then will you find the true path."

"Did the wizards seal Somna?" asked Max.

"Yes… there were far more of them and so few of us. At one point everyone knew magic. They sealed our powers after the war. The elements of our magic are ice, fire, water, wind, light, dark, and earth. Wizard magic is different, but the magic of a mage uses the energy of the world around us. It seems they have used the foundations of our magic as part of the seal. Come, let us go further."

"Aye, aye princess!"

"It's Natalia!"

The next door opened for them without any problems, but then they were faced with a room with walls of ice. Snow was falling and had built up on the floor of the room. The temperature dropped at least twenty degrees. Natalia shivered in her short dress and sandals. Max had on a t-shirt and jeans, but he looked like it wasn't even bothering him.

"L-let's hurry up and m-master ice so we can get out of here!" managed Natalia.

An large icicle blocked Max's way. "Hey…" His eyes widened as it moved to the side. He was just thinking that it was obstructing him… He mentally thought of forming a snowball, and one actually began to form. It hit Natalia.

"H-hey!" she protested.

"Did you just see what happened?" asked Max.

"Yeah! You threw a snowball—wait a minute you didn't throw that, did you?" Natalia followed suit and threw a snowball at Max.

"Yeah, you got it! This is how being a mage works?"

"Somewhat. To do the really big stuff you need to say incantations—you know, spells. Like for ice, to cause an avalanche or something like that."

"Sweet! We can make an avalanche?" Max imagined a torrent of snow falling on the right side of the room. Only a little more fell than usual, though.

"Like I said, you would need an incantation," said Natalia with a shrug. "Anyways, we need to get over there." She pointed at an opening in the wall, thirty feet up, all the way on the other side of the room.

"How are we supposed to do that?" Max asked, incredulously.

"Easy, like this!" A column of ice shot up from under them, and arose to the level of the opening in the wall.

Together, they made more columns rise up and made steps to reach the opening. A white orb was placed on top. Max reached for it and stuck it in his pocket, and they went through.


	6. Chapter 6

Oh gosh I totally forgot about this story LOL Thank y'all for reviewing or I wouldn't have remembered ahaha I had this written a while back. Here I am watching Yugioh GX without a care in the world too hahaha

Okay so.. this chapter went through a major edit a few days ago and I'm not so sure about it so I'm just gonna roll with it. So there's random character development.. uhm.. YEAH!

I swear I'm gonna start making this funnier later on LOL

**Chapter Six:**

"Now it's too hot!" complained Natalia. But that wasn't all. They were on a rock, and underneath them was lava. Candles were hung along the walls, and the next door was after a sea of lava. "If we fall in, we're done!"

Max imagined a current for the lava so that the rock they were on would be pushed towards the opening. But when they reached the other side, the door seemed to be closed.

"I guess that would have been too easy," said Natalia, a little disappointed. "There must be something else.

"It's too dark in here," complained Max. He lit one of the candles on the side. "Much better…"

"Hey, that's a great idea, Max! Let's light all these candles!"

"Okay, but I don't see where you're going with that…" Max and Natalia lit all the candles. The door opened, and Max took a red orb from the other side.

The next room was raining. However, just as before, there were candles lined up along the walls. A decaying wooden bridge connected the room to the next one. There was water underneath them.

"The rain feels AWESOME! Fall harder! YEAH THAT'S THE STUFF!" exclaimed Max, as a deluge of rain started falling. "HAHAHA. I AM KING OF WATER! BOW DOWN BEFORE ME!"

"No way! I hate getting wet!" Natalia made the rain let up. "Hey Max…do you think that bridge is safe?"

"Looks perfectly fine to me!" Max said, and jogged over to the other side until he reached the platform containing the next door. He made it look so easy! Natalia looked down. The drop to the water looked pretty steep…

"Come on! What are you waiting for!" called Max. "It'll only take a minute!"

"I…I can't! What if I fall? I can't swim!" confessed Natalia.

"You're not gonna fall!" insisted Max. "You can use magic!"

"I-I can't do it! I don't wanna! You can go on ahead Max!"

"I'm not going without you, that's like five other rooms to figure out!" complained Max. "Hang on, I have a plan."

"It's just four more rooms!" corrected Natalia unnecessarily.

Max willed the rain to fall again, as hard as before.

Natalia whined. "What-what are you doing, the water level's gonna rise!"

"Just trust me on this," said Max. That would have been really convincing if he didn't start laughing like a maniac a second later. "AHHAHAAHAHAHA!"

The water level rose, and Max stopped the rain as the water reached just underneath the bridge. Natalia gulped. "Okay, now what?"

"Now we do this!" Max waved his hand and all the water turned into ice.

Natalia's eyes widened. _"How was he able to do that without a spell?"_ she thought.

"Now just slide over!" said Max with a goofy expression.

"Um… okay!" Natalia joined Max on the other side.

While he waited for her to get there, Max lit the candles on the walls all at once. "Hey that's cool, the fire reflects on the water!"

"Yeah that is kinda—oh, I see. You're a genius! We can use magic from the rooms we went to before!" Natalia looked down at the water and tried to will it all to melt, but even with the power of the room, she wasn't able to do something of that size without a spell…She wondered how Max was able to do it this time, but when he was trying to do that in the ice room, he wasn't able to? Maybe he was really starting to get the hang of this kind of magic…

Max took the blue orb from the door and pocketed. "Let's see what's up next!"


End file.
